One by one, golden medals descended from the sky, scattering as they fell like glittering sparks.
Yuzhou had only managed to catch a few. In his hands were the medals of Taro, Ultraman (the original), Ace, Gaia, and Tiga.
Because they had dispersed during the explosion, many other streaks of golden light scattered in all directions.
At that moment, a figure appeared on the ground. Watching several of the golden lights fall nearby, he calmly walked toward their landing points.
He bent down, picked up the medals, glanced briefly at Yuzhou in the sky, and turned as if to leave.
However, Yuzhou noticed him.
"…Juggler?"
Yuzhou transformed into a beam of light and landed directly in front of the figure. Meanwhile, Z flew off into the sky, leaving behind a Z-shaped trail of light.
"Hm?"
The person secretly collecting the medals was none other than "Hebikura," who had moments ago still been inside STORAGE. When Yuzhou appeared before him, Hebikura froze in surprise.
"Juggler, long time no see," Yuzhou said with a faint smile.
Hebikura—was Juggler.
"Tiga-san…" Juggler stood there stiffly, clearly not expecting to be caught red-handed while picking up medals. "It really has been a long time."
"Just call me Yuzhou."
Yuzhou's gaze shifted to Juggler's hand. "How many medals did you pick up?"
"…Only a few," Juggler replied awkwardly, forcing a smile as he opened his palm.
There were only three medals.
Dyna, Mebius, and Nexus.
"Let's keep it simple," Yuzhou said calmly. "You can hold onto those medals yourself."
He had no intention of taking them back. With Juggler's personality, these medals would eventually end up in Haruki's hands anyway.
Still, the fact that the Dyna Medal had fallen into Juggler's possession made Yuzhou pause briefly. It seemed that this twisted karmic connection between them truly had no end.
"…Eh?"
Juggler had fully expected Yuzhou to reclaim the medals. He was clearly surprised by this response.
And more importantly—
Was Yuzhou really not going to question why he was serving as the captain of STORAGE on this Earth?
"Oh, right," Yuzhou added casually, as if remembering something. "There's a staff member in the Earth Defense Force named Kaburagi. Help me check where he lives."
Yuzhou had suddenly thought of something. In Z's world, Kaburagi—who was possessed by the alien Celebro—was a key antagonist. Perhaps it would be better to deal with him in advance.
"Why are you looking into a random staff member?" Juggler asked, confused.
"Oh, he's already been possessed by a Celebro alien," Yuzhou replied plainly, offering no secrecy at all.
"…Celebro," Juggler repeated, nodding slowly. "I understand."
Then, as if realizing something, he added, "I should head back first. Otherwise, they'll start wondering why I've been in the restroom for so long."
"Go ahead," Yuzhou nodded.
Juggler turned to leave.
"Wait," Yuzhou suddenly called out, as though another thought had occurred to him. "Don't look into Kaburagi just yet."
"…Huh?" Juggler paused, then nodded again. "Understood. If anything comes up, you know where to find me."
With that, Juggler finally left.
Yuzhou watched him go, then reflected quietly.
Kaburagi's possession by Celebro had occurred because he came into contact with Genegarg's fragments. Celebro itself had likely been one of the alien organisms devoured by Genegarg. Kaburagi's fate was, in a sense, an accident.
"Genegarg's fragments really are anything but ordinary…"
Aside from its body fragments, Genegarg had swallowed countless things—Ultra Medals, transformation devices, and more.
In the original timeline, Celebro's own transformation device had been obtained from Genegarg's remains.
Not to mention—
Belial's 'Demonic Fragments.'
With the monster defeated, the collection of Genegarg's remains immediately began.
Earth's Defense Force had never stopped researching monsters. After all, only by understanding the enemy could humanity hope to defeat it.
Personnel wearing protective suits formed teams and moved across the area, collecting fragments one by one.
Yuzhou walked along the streets, quietly observing both the people and the remaining pieces of Genegarg.
"Genegarg really eats everything…"
As a Ferocious Space Shark, its appetite was absurd.
Aside from miscellaneous debris, it had even swallowed asteroids—and other monsters.
If Genegarg hadn't been such a glutton, Celebro's arrival on Earth might never have happened.
After waiting for a long time—until the sky began to darken—Yuzhou finally saw Earth Defense Force personnel wearing green biohazard suits lining up in an open area. Each of them pushed a blue cylindrical container.
Inside those containers were all of Genegarg's fragments.
Next, everything would be transported to the Monster Research Centre, where biologists would analyse them in detail.
...
"These are fragments No. 1 through No. 39 of today's cosmic monster, Genegarg. Collection is complete."
Inside the warehouse of the Monster Research Centre, the team leader in a protective suit spoke as he walked ahead. Behind him, staff pushed carts loaded with blue containers.
At the very back of the line, one staff member suddenly tripped over something and fell to the ground.
The container tipped over, and several chunks of Genegarg's remains spilled out.
"Hey—be careful, Kaburagi," the leader said without much concern.
"I'm sorry! I'll put them back right away!" Kaburagi hurriedly apologized.
"What a slow-reacting guy…"
The leader shook his head, clearly unwilling to look at the grotesque fragments any longer, and quickly walked away.
Kaburagi was left alone, staring at the disgusting remains on the floor, suppressing the urge to vomit.
"This is awful… It should be fine, right?" he muttered, crouching down to inspect the fragments.
"What even is this… this is disgusting."
Frowning, he reached out to pick up a chunk coated in some unknown fluid and return it to the container.
Suddenly—
The fragment moved.
Like a living creature, it lunged straight onto Kaburagi's head.
His helmet was knocked off instantly as the thing clamped tightly onto his face.
"W–What?! What is this?!!!"
Kaburagi panicked, scrambling to his feet and desperately trying to tear the grotesque organism off his face.
It was useless.
"No—this is disgusting! Get it off—get it off!!!"
He struggled with all his strength, but nothing worked.
Then—
A streak of purple light flashed through the air.
Like a bolt of lightning, a razor-sharp blade of light struck with absolute precision, slicing cleanly through the strange organism clinging to Kaburagi's face.
(End of Chapter)